Wakarusa Off-Road Challenge-Lawrence, Kansas

Jason and Laura Elsenraat put on an awesome event in Lawrence, Kansas called the Wakarusa Off-Road Challenge. This was a solo or 2-person team race which consists of approximately 6 miles of trail running, 17 miles of mountain biking, and 4 miles of paddling.  Zdenek Palecek and I decided this would be another good training race together as a team in preparation for USARA Nationals in October.

At the pre-race meeting we were told good news and bad news. The good news was we would no longer be paddling into Mud Creek since there is no water and full of mud! We would be doing an out and back on the Kansas River. The bad news was Jason prohibited the use of any running or bike tows. Jason!!!! How am I ever going to keep up with "Speedy Zee?" Anyone who knows Zdenek (Zee) knows he has some serious energy! I knew he was going to put us in the hurt locker for this race.

Zdenek and I were racing in the Co-ed division which consisted of 19 teams. Of course, I wanted to shoot for an overall team win which consisted of 18 male teams and 5 female teams. There were a total of 36 soloists. This was a total of 78 solo and team racers. There were many triathlete looking folks there. These trails are relatively flat and fast. I knew I was going to have to really push myself at this race if we wanted to try to win it.

 RUN #1 (2.2 miles)-0:18 min

We all lined up at the start line on the Levee Trail. The air was already muggy and a heat advisory was in effect for the day. I decided to not run with any water for the first run since it was short.  Jason yelled to start and everyone blasted off. We bolted down the gravel Levee Trail for approximately 1 mile before we took a right turn to head into the woods. Zdenek was setting a blistering pace and I was just trying to hang on. We ran another 1.2 miles of dirt single track which brought us back to the start.  Looked like we came in 1st so far in the Coed division with a few male teams and male soloists in front of us. However, there was a coed team only a few minutes behind us.

BIKE (17.2 miles)-1hr 12min

We arrived in the transition area and quickly changed our shoes. We hopped on our bikes and shot off down the gravel Levee Trail again. This time we went a little further down for approximately 4 miles. I was trying to down fluids and bring my heart rate back down a little on this part. However, Zee was pushing to go faster so it was time to tuck and go. We got to work with one of our Off the Front teammates, Fred Williams, which was fun. We found ourselves passing some of the men who were faster runners. We made a
sharp right into the woods into the dirt single track. I remember this trail from a previous adventure race Jason and Laura put on in years past. Fred, Zee, and I were hauling through this section where we rode around the outer loop first. I could see Fred was starting to pull away and I couldn't see any racers behind us. We made one large outer loop and then, came around again to do a shorter inner loop on the dirt trails. I have been experimenting with flat pedals in adventure racing lately.  I was thinking about them for this race with multiple transitions however, we opted on clip-less pedals for this race. These trails are super fast with very quick sharp turns and small uphill bumps. I think we made the right decision for faster cornering and more pull on the uphills. We hauled into the transition after passing a few folks and did not get passed by anyone.

  PADDLE (~2.95 miles)-0:43 min

 We quickly transitioned back into our running shoes. I was going so fast that I forgot to take my helmet off for the paddle. Oh well. The paddle section was shortened due to Mud Creek not having water and only mud which was too difficult to walk and drag canoes through. Instead, we had an out and back on the Kansas River. I was really wanting to gain a lot of time on this section since paddling is my strength. We found ourselves starting to pass a bunch of solo and male teams. However, my goal was to put some more time on the 2nd place coed team. The water was very shallow in sections and as we were heading downriver, we would find the current pulling us off to river right. The volunteer standing on the bank at the turn around was on the left. We quickly approached the turn around and headed back upriver. We crossed paths the 2nd place coed team already heading downriver. Dang it. I was hoping to have more of a gap before the last run. Again, they were only a couple minutes behind us.

 RUN #2 (4.3 miles)-0:45 min

We carried our canoes to the bank and quickly shed the life jackets and of course, my helmet. It was now really hot and we had our last 4.3 miles of the race to run.  I was really nervous on this part since I knew the triathlete team was only a couple of minutes behind, and who knows who else. I knew they could easily catch us on the last run. We had to run another inner loop of the twisty single track but, counterclockwise this time. As we started running, I realized I finally ran out of water. Zee had a little left but, it was a diluted Gatorade which seemed to make me even more thirsty. As soon as we made the left turn in the loop to head home, we saw the 2nd place team going the opposite direction. I thought..oh boy...here they come! I was really starting to suffer with the heat and no water. All I was hoping was everyone was feeling like we were. I started
feeling really bad and I couldn't explain to Zee what the problem was. All I could hear was "come on..we are almost there." Of course, he was saying this all along. But, there was no way I was going to give up with only a couple of miles left. I definitely entered the "dark side" at that point and just tried to focus on Zee's running stride to get me home. I kept looking over my shoulder thinking they were getting closer. Then, I could see it...the finish line! We cranked up the speed a little and crossed the finish line in 1st. I wanted to be so happy at that point but, I was so exhausted and overheated I just had to sit down and down a bunch of ice water. As I sat there recovering, almost everyone came across feeling the same way. The second place coed team came across 10 minutes after us. I think they were feeling it on the last run too.

After I felt like I could think again, it finally sunk in we got 1st out of 19 coed teams and 3rd out of 42 overall teams. We came out with some nice cash and a free entry into next years race. Big congrats goes out to friends Cynthia and John Bradley who took 1st in each solo division (John took overall win also) and Fred Williams who got 16th. Jason and Laura also had tons of awesome swag. Click here for results:  http://www.wakarusachallenge.com/results/2013/2013_Splits.pdf

Casey, my daughter, and I also really enjoyed the cabins we stayed in at Clinton Lake the night before. We will definitely be back next year!